The Orb itself is actually a remarkable piece of technology (considering what is available in a package of this size).
"Normal camera" won't do for the same reason Face ID won't work without PrimeSense.
"Normal camera" won't do for the same reason Face ID won't work without PrimeSense.
Edit: The article includes 2 pictures of orb operators using the orb. In both cases it seems like a more traditional form factor would be better. The first picture shows an orb operator balancing the orb in his hand - seems like a handle would be useful. The second picture shows the spherical orb awkwardly strapped to a flat platform on top of a monopod or tripod. I'm guessing that the orb does not have a tripod mount, but it really should.
When I was solving this class of problems in 2016 (image acquisition, object detection, identification, measurement etc.) with same kind of limitations (everything has to happen within the device itself, no uplink to the cloud) I managed it with a box of 100 kg and a size of really big suitcase.
Seeing this (sensor package and computation) within small device impressed me personally.